WASHINGTON, D.C. — It's improving. It's better. Americans can be proud of it again.
What, you thought we were talking about Congress?
We're talking about the National Mall — this city's national park that contains everything from the...

— It's the Korean War Veterans Memorial that has Mel Schissler mesmerized.
Schissler, who flew in B-17s over Europe during World War II, had toured the war memorials along the National Mall two or three times before his visit last weekend with the...

Sparks started flying at the blacksmith shop on West Saratoga Street when James Madison was president of the United States, and a crew there is still on the job, now operating in a hybrid historical museum and working business.
The folks who run G. Krug...

The marble head and body of the George Washington Monument in Baltimore reemerged last week from the scaffolding that has ensconced it for nearly a year, and all exterior renovations are expected to wrap up this month.
The $5.5 million restoration...

Q: I have a town home that is paid off in California. I am worried if an earthquake hits I will lose my entire investment. How do I adequately insure my town home?
A: Ironically — or perhaps I should say tragically — you sent me this question about a week before an earthquake hit the Napa Valley area. I live in Washington, D.C., and for years, we never concerned ourselves with earthquakes or earthquake insurance. However, in August 2011, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 occurred in...

Washington, D.C.'s newest face? It's a 6-acre portrait called "Out of Many, One" and it's made of sand, soil and gravel. Here's the catch: You can't see it from the ground.
Those walking through the artwork, which opened Saturday beside the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, won't see the face of a man peeking out from behind a row of bushes. They'll see furrows of gravel and dirt, along with interactive displays that explain how it all came together.
It takes a...

It's improving. It's better. Americans can be proud of it again.
What, you thought we were talking about Congress?
We're talking about the National Mall this city's national park that contains everything from the Washington Monument to the national carousel.
After decades of deferred maintenance that caused the Mall to slip into a blowsy, weedy, concrete-crumbling state, it has been whipped into semi-respectable shape in just 30 months.
The earthquake-damaged Washington Monument finally reopened May...

Just east of Highlandtown in Baltimore's Greektown neighborhood, the exteriors of the two-story brick rowhouses all look pretty much alike. It's the creative details — a painted front door, window trim or stained glass transoms — with which the owners state their individuality.
Adrianne Kotula stands at her open front door on one of these blocks. Her purple hair, bold, chevron print dress and lime green shoes that match the paint on her front door make a statement as well. The 33-year-old...

The good news is that the Washington Monument emerged from its post-earthquake face-lift with a splashy reopening ceremony Monday. The not-so-good news: Reserve tickets for the Washington, D.C., icon are sold out through late June and around Fourth of July weekend.
The Washington Monument closed after a 5.8 earthquake shook the nation's capital on Aug. 23, 2011. Since then, crack-filling, stone replacement and other repairs have cost $15 million. Thousands of people gathered Monday to mark the reopening...

The Baltimore Book Festival, once an annual staple in Mount Vernon Square, is smack dab in the touristy Inner Harbor this year, a move that got mostly positive reviews Saturday.
Some who took part in the festival in Mount Vernon say they miss the venue and add that it's too early to say which is better. Others thought that featuring the festival at the harbor would give tourists a good impression of the city.
"Down here, you have people that are not just coming to the book festival. They go to...